Mysterious disease kills 97 people in South Sudan

97 people have died of a mysterious disease in South Sudan, while the World Health Organization is scrambling to find out what the unknown disease is.

The disease claimed the lives of its victims in Fangak, Jonglei State, in the northern part of South Sudan.

The South Sudanese Ministry of Health said the disease mainly affected the elderly and children under the age of 14.

According to the British newspaper “Express”, the symptoms of the mysterious disease include coughing, diarrhea, fever, headache, joint pain, loss of appetite, weakness, and chest pain.

WHO officials have been sent to the region to investigate the disease.

The South Sudanese Ministry of Health also said that the Fangak district was recently severely affected by severe flooding, which has escalated pressure on local health authorities due to endemic diseases such as malaria and cholera.

Last November, Doctors Without Borders warned that floods in South Sudan were the perfect storm for disease outbreaks, with more than 200,000 people reported to have fled their homes as a result of the so-called worst floods in the region in more than 60 years.

The United Nations has blamed the floods on climate change.

MSF said people affected by the floods were more vulnerable to outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as acute watery diarrhoea, cholera and malaria.

People with severe cholera can become severely dehydrated, which can lead to kidney failure, and if left untreated, the disease can lead to death within hours.

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